~ Illustrations & Odd Facts

Monthly Archives: February 2013

Katharine McCormick (1875-1976.) Biologist, suffragist, philanthropist, and heir to a fortune. She was the Vice President of the League of Women Voters after the 19th Amendment was ratified in 1920. As if that isn’t enough- she was also the second woman to graduate from MIT and funded the research necessary to develop the first birth control pill. AMAZING. Just amazing.

When she died in 1967 at the age of 92, her will provided millions of dollars to support female doctors.

Anne Neville (1456-1485.) Queen of England as the consort of Richard III.

If you’ve seen the news lately, you will have read about the recent discovery of Richard III’s body under a parking lot in England. His reign is the topic of many debates amongst Historians. I need to do more research before I weigh in on that- but decided to find out a bit more about his wife, Anne.

Anne was a member of the very powerful Neville family. She married Richard at Westminster Abbey in 1472. They had one child- Edward, who died at the age of ten.

After Richard ascended to the throne- many suspected that he had tried to poison his wife in order to marry his niece, Elizabeth of York (ew.) She most likely succumbed to Tuberculosis, however, on the day Anne died, there was an eclipse which some said was an omen of Richard’s fall from grace- further fueling the rumors.

She was buried in an unmarked grave by the high altar at Westminster Abbey. In 1960 a bronze plaque was put in place by the Richard III Society.

Nerd is the Word!

I love studying quirky history, so illustrating the people I research makes me one happy nerd girl. Did you know Queen Victoria had Bishopophobia? or that when Elizabeth of Russia died, they found 15,000 dresses in her uh... closet?

It's good stuff- and I plan to illustrate all the royal weirdos I can find.

All illustrations are my personal property- if you'd like to use them, just ask!